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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I am liking definitions of late

Heuristic
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Heuristic (pronounced /hjʉˈrɪstɨk/, from the Greek "Εὑρίσκω" for "find" or "discover") is an adjective for experience-based techniques that help in problem solving, learning and discovery. Archimedes is said to have shouted "Heureka" (later converted to "Eureka") after discovering the principle of displacement in his bath. A heuristic method is used to come to a solution rapidly that is hoped to be close to the best possible answer, or 'optimal solution'. A heuristic is a "rule of thumb", an educated guess, an intuitive judgment or simply common sense. A heuristic is a general way of solving a problem. Heuristics as a noun is another name for heuristic methods.

In more precise terms, heuristics stand for strategies using readily accessible, though loosely applicable, information to control problem solving in human beings and machines.